The story seemed to resonate with a lot of readers as I got dozens of e-mails, many of which told personal stories about their experiences, or more commonly those of their parents and grandparents with Germans in Texas.

Herein I share some of the stories e-mailed to me, anonymously, because I have not obtained permission from all of these readers to republish their comments.

Some women liked the hearty German boys:

I knew some old timers from around Hearne who told me many stories of the antics of the local females during the WW2 POW era. More than likely you heard some of them during your research for the article-maybe not. If not here are a few- It seems the local young and old females got to know (fraternization?) the Nazis because they were allowed much freedom some even visited the homes of locals and certainly met local women via field work. The women who had befriended the Nazis would drive to the compound and blow the vehicles horn to signal their boyfriends. Because of lax guards or other inducements the Nazis would be allowed to leave sometimes overnight. Supposedly their were a few blond haired blue eyed babies delivered in and around Hearne. I had a good friend who spent 2 plus years in a German Stalag who would have welcomed just half of the reduce half of the reduced calories given to the Nazi POWs.

Heino Erichsen was one of the German prisoners held at Camp Hearne. Now 87, he returned to the United States to live after the war. (Melissa Phillip/Chronicle)

You could cruise by on the weekends to take a look:

Just to say how much I enjoyed the story, I was a teenager during the 1940’s and relived lots of stuff that went on during those years. There was a German POW camp between Tyler and Gladewater, Texas during that time. Lots of times on Sunday afternoons if some guy could borrow his dad’s car we would drive by there and stop and look at the guys on the other side of the fence. When the government closed it as a POW camp they open it as a camp where soldiers coming back from overseas were brought for discharging from the service. The buildings were later moved and used as people housing. yes, you brought back many memories for me.

Work detail at Camp Hearne. (Mike Waters/Texas A&M)

Camps brought the war close to home:

This brought back memories of my childhood days in Galveston-standing within a handshake of the German POWs on the other side of the barbed wire at Ft Crockett-it really brought WWII close to home.

Some Texas-Germans were embarrassed:

Eric, thoroughly enjoyed your article on the POW camp in Hearne. Were you aware there was a rather large camp in Richmond, the area later became the Ft. Bend Fairgrounds. As a child going out to see Grandma in Garwood, we drove first past the prison in Sugarland then the POW camp in Richmond. At 71 I was just a little kid, but vividly remember that camp. Since the area was full of Texas-Germans I remember there was a lot of discussion amongst the adults. They were already so embarrased first with WWI then now WWII and now here they had them living “down the road”. I know some worked as field hands in the area,and since they all spoke German that poised no problem. However, my family (grandparents all spoke German with a little English) didn’t like the idea. Brought back a lot of memories of WWII for me. Had a major impact on my life.

Alvin had a camp, too:

Alvin had a POW camp and you know we are very close to the coast. An acquaintance of mine, age 80, born and raised in Alvin remembers the camp and seeing the soldiers. She told me that the rice farmers requested having prisoners sent here to help with the farming. There were about 2,000 prisoners here arriving in Oct. 1943. BABE ON THE BAYOU, a history of Alvin by Ida Blanchette goes into detail about the camp. My friend also told me about a captured Japanese submarine which was on display in front of the old post office. Locals were allowed to go through the submarine. Ms. Epperson, my friend, said it was very small. She was 12 yrs. old at the time. People in Alvin did feel that there could be an invasion from the gulf. Have you seen the gun turrets (if that is the right word) along the seawall in Galveston? At least one was incorporated into the St. Luis hotel and is no longer visible.

The camps were all over Texas:

When I was boy, Roosevelt had started the CCC and they built camps, usually rectangular barracks. One such camp was between the town of Humble and the San Jacinto River. This camp was later used to house German prisoners. After graduation of high school I went to college at Sam Houston Teachers College and their agriculture department used a German prison camp near Huntsville. It was as good as any I used when I was in the American Army. It had a gym and when basketball tournaments were held some of the games were played there. Here in Costa Rica, I met a woman who was born in a prison camp to German parents in Crystal City, Texas that housed German, Japanese, Italian and etc. that lived USA. Most people never realized other than Japanese were sent to concentration camps.

The prisoners were kind:

I thoroughly enjoyed your article in Saturday’s Chronicle about the German Prisoner of War Camps in Hearne. My mother spoke of this camp and one on highway 19 just out from Huntsville heading toward Riverside. She recalled seeing them working in the fields and how nice they were to everyone they came in contact with locally. If I remember my Texas history correctly, we were not taught that such a camp existed In Texas.Again thanks for a great article.

Camp sites were used for many purposes after the war:

I’m surprised that so many people are surprised and unaware of the German POW camps in Texas. There were a number of them and they were certainly no secret. You might want to check out the story of the camp at Riverside, between Huntsville and Trinity. In the 1950’s the large complex of barracks was still standing and was owned by Sam Houston State University and known as “Country Campus”. Because it could still house so many people it was used as the spring training site for the Pittsburgh Pirates minor league baseball teams. As a teenager, I attended the baseball camp held there during the summers to take advantage of the baseball fields and other training facilities erected by the Pirates. I lived in those barracks and ate in the same chow halls that had been used by the POW’s.

Many prisoners moved back here after the war:

I live in Alvin, Texas, 20 miles from the Gulf of Mexico and we had one here in Alvin, Texas on Rosharon Road, FM 1462. I remember seeing it, observing the prisoners playing volley ball, and them marching through Alvin in formation many times. They worked in the fields and from stories I’ve hear, really enjoyed their stay here in Alvin. I’ve also heard stories of some of them moving back here after the war, such as your story indicates.

On a camp in El Campo

I read with great interest your piece on Camp Hearne as POW camp for German soldiers. I was born in 1944 while my Dad was off to war in Europe; we lived in El Campo and as a young child of maybe age 3-4yr I remember that there was a POW camp south of El Campo and that after a storm camp officials sent trucks with German POW’s around the town to gather up fallen tree limbs and debris.